Even Greater Expectations
by Amnesty
Summary: Everyone has expectations of you, especially when your future is so bright. But what if you want something else? HandyxPetuniax?, CuddlesxGigglesxCro-Marmot, FlippyxFlakyxSplendid.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Not much to say. Just a college romance fic featuring most of the characters in one-way or another. Mostly Petunia centric but all main characters will have time in the spotlight.

To those whom this matters:

Main couple possibilities: Petunia/Handy, Petunia/?, Giggles/Cuddles, Giggles/Cro-Marnot, Splendid/Flaky/Flippy love triangle(Who will win?)

Hope you enjoy and any feedback is welcome- positive or negative.

Even Greater Expectations By: Amnesty

Petunia opened the door and entered the empty medium sized room with Giggles following close behind her. They eyed the beige room and excitedly, examined the twin sized bare beds on opposite sides of the room. Each bed had an end table to its side with a pamphlet reading _Caniopi Dorm Guidelines _with an emblem of a moose on the front. Each side also had matching dresser drawers, a small closet. Overall the room was found to be a bit run down but due to their adrenaline of a new chapter in their life the found it to be perfect.

"I claim this one," Giggles happily pronounced as she pulled her large roll away suitcase to the edge of the bed on the left. She fell back on the lumpy mattress and pulled off the large duffle bag she had swung over her shoulder.

Giggles was an attractive young woman with short, bright pink hair with her signature red bow hair clip that framed her heart shaped face making her lighter colored pink eyes pop. Her outfits typically consisted of knit tops and short flowing skirts and flats.

"I guess I'll be taking this one then," Petunia stated as she rolled her suitcase to the other empty bed.

Petunia was a bit more petite then her friend but just as attractive. Her hair was uniquely multi colored with white hair leading from her bangs and down a thick strip on top of her head and a deep indigo color on the bottom half. Her hairstyle was typically pulled back in a high messy bun with a petunia flower clip where her hair ties. Her clothing style typically leaned toward structured shorts and a trendy top. Oddly she almost always had a pine tree air freshener hanging around her neck.

"I can't believe we're finally at college," Giggles began. "We're so lucky we were both able to score this room together!"

"I know. I can't wait 'till classes start. I just wish we would have more classes together," Petunia pouted.

"We have English together at least. I heard the _professor_ is incredibly cute too."

"Yeah, me too. I also heard he's incredibly nice but has a short fuse. Something about him being in the last war or something and it really messed him up."

"That's rough. Well," she said, changing the subject. "Are you ready to decorate our new room?"

"Indeed I am!"

The two girls began to open up their duffle bags and pull out multiple items that pertained to their personalities. Giggles pulled out mostly pink items, stuffed animals, heart shaped objects and other plush things and when she was finished her side of the room resembled more of an eight year old girl than eighteen starting college. Petunia color spread was mostly lavender, white and green. She had a few trendy decorations but her side of the room mostly focused on proper placement and neatness.

The two girls laid on their respected beds and talked about the big plans they had as freshmen at Caniopi College. After about an hour of chatting a soft knock came on their door. Giggles immediately popped up and answered. Waiting on the other side stood a woman of average build and intense long red hair. She wore a modest plaid yellow sundress that came to her knees. She cautiously eyed them with her lighter red eyes.

"Um, hello. I'm Flaky. It's nice to meet you," She offered shyly.

"Hi, I'm Giggles and that's Petunia," she motioned to where Petunia was now sitting on her bed. Petunia offered a 'hello' of her own. "Are you starting here too?"

"Yes… I mean, no. Actually, this is my last year. I'm a senior and Hall Leader of this dorm. I'm just introducing myself to all of the new students."

"Wow, a senior. What's your major?"

"Early Literature."

"Ah, I'm going into the medical field. I'm torn between respiratory therapy and anesthesiology," Giggles said.

"I'm going into business law," piped in Petunia.

"Well, it's nice to meet you both. If either of you need any help with anything just let me know, I'm two doors down. Oh, and tonight all the girls in this hall will be having a meet and greet. We'd like it if you'd come."

A current popular song began to chime from a smart phone on Giggles end table. Giggles excused herself momentarily from Flaky and grabbed her phone. When she saw who was on the other line she moaned and looked at Petunia.

"It's Cuddles," she groaned. "This is the eighth time he's called me today."

"Well, talk to him. You can't avoid him forever," replied Petunia.

"I'm sure I can find away. You'd think he'd pick up the hint."

"The two of you had been dating since elementary school. You broke up with him through a text message _on the way here_. I think you need to talk to him."

"But I don't want to. I can't. This is my fresh start. Starting new. Will you talk to him for me?"

"No!"

"Please, I'll do all your turn papers until we graduate."

"As tempting as that sounds, I'll pass. You know how he gets when he's upset. This is _your _problem."

"Petunia, I'm begging you."

"Oh fine," Petunia spat as she rushed forward and ripped the phone from Giggles hands and answered the phone. "Your 'fresh start' is very wussy by the way. Cuddles, it's me, Petunia," she answered as she headed out the door past Flaky. "Cuddles… Cuddles. Breath, I can't understand you."

After Petunia made her way into the commons to attempt to tie things up for Giggles and Cuddles Flaky turned a questioning gaze to Giggles.

"You broke up with him through a text message?"

"Ah, well… If you saw him you'd understand why I couldn't do it face to face."

"Is he scary," Flaky asked with worried eyes.

Giggles laughed and shook her head. "No, too cute. He's like a little bunny. But I didn't want to start college with a boyfriend. I've never dated anyone else and I want to test the seas a bit, you know?"

"I guess I understand. Oh, before I forget. We live in one of the older dorms and the pipes are giving out in the girl's restroom. Sometime later today the maintenance man will be coming in to take a look at them. Just a fore warning."

"Oh, okay."

Flaky pulled out her phone to check the time. "Listen, I have to go to the library for a bit. Do you mind passing that on to Petunia for me."

"Yeah, no problem."

"Thanks, it was nice meeting you," Flaky said as she waved goodbye and headed out.

"You too, bye."

Giggles sat down on her bed and began to idly flip through her textbooks for the semester. After about thirty minutes she decided to peek in to see how Petunia was handling the Cuddles situation. She poked her head out of their room and saw cuddles lying on couch, using the arm rest as a pillow.

"Uh huh… Uh huh. I understand, but once again the best thing you can do is let Giggles do what she thinks she needs to do. If she decides to come back to you, that's great but if not… Cuddles, let me finish. If not you just have to move on. That's all there is to it… I know you have some thinking to do… You'll be fine you just have to adjust… Okay… Okay… I love you too Cuddles, bye." Petunia hung up the phone and sighed. She turned as Giggles came closer and pointed an accusing finger, glaring. "You've just burned two hundred friend points on that one."

"He's taking it that badly."

"Half the call was him just crying!"

"Ugh, am I a horrible person?"

"Yeah, you're a horrible person. I still love you, but jeez you screwed that boy up."

"Breaking up is hard! I've never had to do it before," Giggles lamented, trying to defend herself.

"Yes, but a text message? Maybe if things were going bad but he spent the whole day before helping you pack and get ready."

"I know I know. I really don't want to think about this right now. I'll talk to him and try to clear things up later. I promise."

"I'm not talking to him again for you."

"I know. I wasn't going to make you."

"So, 'changing the subject'. What do you want to do until the dorm get together," Petunia asked.

"We should explore the campus a bit. We haven't been here since the campus visit and I want to see if I can find where the popular places around here are."

Petunia pulled herself from the couch. "Sounds good to me."

The two girls headed out into campus and walked around, seeing what was currently going on. They went by where their classes were going to be and also made their way to the cafeteria. Eventually they made their way to the courtyard where there were multiple booths lined up for people to sign up for multiple clubs.

"Will you sign up for anything," Petunia asked Giggles as she picked up a flyer listing all their clubs and browsed the options.

"I don't know, I wonder if they have any type of environmental club."

Petunia read down the list. "Yep, Caniopi Environmental Conservation Club. C.E.C.C."

"I'll probably check that out. I've always enjoyed doing things for the environment. Want to join with me?"

"Nah, last time I tried going to one of your environmental meetings they tried to get me to through away all my cleaning supplies."

"Yeah… That was funny. Do you see anything that you want to join?"

"I better. It will look good on my resume." Petunia looked over the list and though her eyes went straight to an art club she glided over it and found a club for future lawyers. "This one sounds… appropriate."

After signing up to their respected clubs the girls began to head over to where they saw a group of college kids playing a game of Ultimate Frisbee. Before they left the area where all the booths were located a particular redhead caught their eye. She was sitting at a small booth next to an older attractive man with green hair and lime green eyes wearing an army jacket.

"Hey Flaky," Giggles yelled as she drug Petunia closer.

Flaky smiled as they approached. "Hi Giggles, Petunia. Are you two interested in joining the Literature club?"

"No, we've already picked out other clubs. We just saw you and wanted to say hi," Petunia replied.

"Oh, well. It's nice to see you. How are you enjoying the campus? It's pretty crazy right now."

"We love it so far. After this we're going to try and get into the Frisbee game over there," Giggles said as she motioned to the ongoing game.

"That will be fun. I may not look it but I really enjoy playing sports. Oh! And this is Professor Flippy. He's the English and Literature teacher and sponsors our club as well."

"Nice to meet you ladies," he said with a kind smile. "I hope you enjoy your time here and make the most of it. And if you keep close to this young woman," he said as he motioned to Flaky. "You're sure to do well."

Flaky blushed and smiled in response. "Thank you."

"She seems great. I'm glad we're sharing a dorm with her," said Petunia.

Flippy thought for a moment. "Giggles and Petunia, I think I remember seeing both of your names on one of my class rosters.

"You're right. Both of us are taking your English class Mondays and Wednesdays at eight am."

"Ah, well I can't wait to have both of you in my class."

"Us too," Giggles agreed. "Well, we're going to head off. I'll see you later tonight Flaky." Giggles grabbed Petunia's arm and began to once again head to the game. Petunia waved goodbye as well.

They first joined a group of bystanders who were watching the game. The players were in the middle of a session so they couldn't join in quite yet. It didn't take long before a certain blue-headed boy caught their eyes. Giggles grabbed Petunia's arm in excitement.

"Is that who I think it is," Giggles squealed in delight.

"It is! I know that face anywhere. It's Splendid!"

"Oh my gosh! We're going to school with a movie star! Petunia! We're going to school with Splendid!"

Both started to laugh in delight and bounce up and down enthusiastically. "Oh my gosh! He's just as cute in real life," Petunia commented, elated.

As they watched another key player began to stand out. They didn't know who he was but he was decimating the field. He was tall and well built and had light brown hair.

"I wonder who he is," questioned Giggles. Petunia only shrugged in response.

After the round ended a few players called it quit and went to the sidelines. The player with the light brown hair approached the crowd, barely winded, unlike the other players.

"Would anyone like to fill in? We need four players."

A little less then half the crowd watching raised their hands. Most seemed satisfied just to watch. Both Giggles and Petunia raised their hands clasped together. Signifying that if they did play they would do so together.

"Okay," he looked around at the potential players. "We'll take you and… you," he said while pointing out two fit looking males. The two chosen to play fist pounded the air and ran behind the main Frisbee player. He scanned the crowd a bit longer before he reached Petunia and Giggles as they held their hands up high. He smiled, as he looked them over a bit. "And these two fine ladies."

The girls let out a loud cheer as they ran onto the field with the others. Before starting their team huddled together to form a strategy. It was obvious whoever this player was he was in charge as he laid out the game plan. "And before I forget my name is Cro-Marnot, call me Cro. I hope you all know who this person is."

"Splendid," Giggles yelled before coughing and continuing more softly. "His name is Splendid."

Splendid smiled and gave everyone a quick nod. "Nice to meet you everybody. And what are your lovely ladies names?"

"I'm Giggles, and this is-"

"Petunia," she said for herself.

"Well guys," Cro began as he held out a hand. "Are we ready to do this?"

Everyone placed a hand in and have a cheer at the count of three. Right after the team quickly took their positions and waited for the game to begin. After about thirty minutes of non-stop playing their team was well on its way to victory. Both Cro and Splendid was carrying most of the weight but Giggles and Petunia were holding their own fairly well. Their team finally won the last point, courtesy of Giggles, and the onlookers cheered for their victory. Cro ran up and threw Giggles over his shoulders and began to spin quickly, both laughing. He then placed her near Petunia whom gave her a quick hug.

"Great job Giggles," Petunia happily cheered.

"Hey, you guys did great," Splendid added. "Cro and I are about to get a post game snack. Wanna tag along?"

"That sounds great, right Giggles," Petunia said, turning to Giggles.

"I'd love to!"

The four headed toward the cafeteria and Petunia noticed while passing the club booths Splendid caught sight of Flaky and have her a cool smirk and a wave. Flaky awkwardly waved back while Professor Flippy rolled his eyes.

Once they reached the cafeteria they got their food and fought past the crowd that tried to get Splendid's attention shortly after finding a small table to sit down.

"Wow, does everyone clamoring over you like that ever get tiresome," Petunia asked after Splendid took a few moments to take a photo opt with a few fans.

"Ah, it's not too bad. After a while they'll get used to me running about and it won't be this crazy. I like the attention anyways."

"That's good then," Petunia said as she turned and watch Cro blow his straw in Giggles direction whom giggled flirtatiously before crumpling the straw paper and tossing it across the table.

The four were having a good time as they were discussing their majors and what they wanted to pursue in the future. Not long into the meal Petunia was torn away by a dripping feeling on her head. She curiously looked up and found that she was sitting underneath and air conditioning unit that was beginning to leak. Petunia leapt from her chair and began to breath rashly.

"Oh no," she cried in a panic.

"What's wrong Petunia," Giggles asked concerned.

"The air conditioner leaked water on my hair!"

"No biggy," Cro began. "We can move over so it won't happen again.

Petunia began to breath heavier and was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Petunia, Sweetie, it's okay. Just breath," Giggles said as she stood by her friend. "Let's go to the bathroom and we can just spot it out."

Petunia violently shook her head. "No, they're all in my hair! I- I have to take a shower. I'm sorry," she hastily said as she began to back away. "I have to go." She then turned and quickly ran out of the cafateria with Giggles calling out behind her.

Petunia threw open the door to her dorm room and grabbed her bathroom set and quickly made her way to the bathrooms. She quickly tore off her clothes and turned on the water full blast, only the water barely trickled out.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she lamented as she hopped out and went to the next shower stall only to find the same occurrence. "No water pressure. That's just great," she said sarcastically.

She decided that she would just have to make due and took the shower the best she could. It wasn't as gratifying as she was hopping it would be but she felt much cleaner. After patting herself dry she slid on a bra and panties and then turned on her ipod so she could listen to music while she finished getting dressed. She opened the curtain and began to walk over to where she left her clean pair of clothes but due to the loud volume from her ipod she didn't hear the cautionary warning that came from the outside door and as soon as she rounded the corner she almost crashed face first into a young orange haired man walking through the bathroom.

Her eyes widened in mortifying horror and shock and she couldn't stop herself from letting out a wall-shaking scream.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I actually liked how a good chuck of this turned out and really enjoy writing the character dynamics, especially the close friendship between Petunia and Giggles. Hope ya'll like it as well. Please R&R.

Even Greater Expectations

By. Amnesty

Petunia stared wide-eyed at her equally shocked intruder, as he instinctively looked at her chest before locking eyes once again. She didn't know what kind of pervert he was or why he was openly standing in the girl's restroom. He had bright orange hair and eyes and wore a yellow hard hat. His tank was an off-white and he wore a tool belt over a pair of cargo pants. She threw her arms over her near bare chest, feeling her heart pounding a mile a minute inside and felt her entire face turn read in humiliation and she could see his face brighten as well. To her it felt like hours passed as they awkwardly stood in front of each other even though she knew it was only a couple of seconds for her mind to snap back from the distress.

"I'm sor-" began the man standing before her but was quickly cut off by Petunia's loud demands.

"Get out," Petunia screamed as she hugged her chest tighter.

"Right! Sorry," he said as he quickly turned and frantically tried to pull the door open.

It was then that she noticed he was having a bit of difficulty pulling the door handle and the reason behind it was that he was surprisingly a double amputee. Needless to say, Petunia was very confused about the current circumstances as she quickly moved around the corner and watched him fumble with the door. After a few annoyed outbursts he was finally able to pull the door open and hastily leave.

After he left Petunia grabbed one of the stools and pushed it in front of the door and quickly threw on her clothes. Once finished she peeked out the door and saw him uncomfortably sitting on the couch. Taking a deep breath Petunia rushed out of the bathroom and made a quick run to her room before slamming the door behind her. Petunia fell onto her bed and buried her face in her pillow, still completely frazzled.

In about thirty minutes, over to where the bathrooms were located, she could here the sound of drilling and pounding.

"_He must be some kind of handyman or something to fix the pipes,"_ Petunia thought to herself. _"He's not a pervert, he just has bad timing... god, I can't believe he saw me practically naked. That's so embarrassing… At least my underwear matches…" _Petunia placed a hand over her heart and still felt it racing. "Wait a second," Petunia said aloud as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "He doesn't have any hands. How can he fix the pipes?"

Petunia was about to get out of bed to investigate but decidedly didn't want to face him again and opted to just brew on it. After about an hour the noises stopped and a couple of hours after that Giggles came through the door.

"Hey," she said sweetly. "Feeling better? They guys were worried about you."

"I feel _worse_ actually. My stomach's all in knots after what just happened."

"Don't worry about it. I explained everything to the guys and they're okay with it. Splendid actually invited us to hang out tomorrow too."

"Not about them. Something horrible happened just after my shower."

Giggles raised an eyebrow as she sat at the foot of Petunia's bed. "What happened?"

Petunia went over in great detail the occurrence she had a few hours ago with the handless handyman. From the particular underwear she was wearing to the hue of color both she and him turned when they caught sight of each other. As she retold the story she could feel the heat rise to her face again and her heart begin to flutter.

"I was so embarrassed Giggles, you have no idea," she continued as she buried her face in her hands.

Giggles couldn't contain herself as she broke into a giggling fit.

"It's not funny!"

"I know. It's just… I guess now's a bad time to tell you Flaky told me to tell you that someone was coming in today to work on the pipes."

Petunia glared at her friend who still seemed very satisfied that she indirectly caused the mishap today. "Thanks, Giggles," she said, stressing the words sarcastically.

"Oops," she replied raising her hands in defense.

Petunia let out an exasperated sigh as she fell back onto her bed. "Why do I love you so much? You're nothing but a pain in my side."

"I'm just too adorable for anyone to pass up."

"No… that can't be it," Petunia muttered.

"Hey! You know what? I was going to tell you everyone's gathering outside and Flaky brought snacks but I think I'll just leave you here."

"We're starting already," Petunia questioned as she crawled out of bed and walked toward Giggles.

They walked into the common area and took an open love seat. Giggled took it upon herself to make herself comfortable by propping up against the armrest and laying her legs across Petunia, who just idly folded her hands over said legs. Flaky was busy idly chatting with some of the other girls while making the snacks presentable. Another girl sat on a plush chair near them. She was pale with purple eyes and had white curly hair that cascaded over her shoulders. She wore a white wool turtleneck and black leggings. After grabbing a cracker with cheese on it she turned to Giggles and Petunia and greeted them.

"Hello," she said, with a distinctly foreign accent. "My name is Lammy. You two must be our new freshman this year."

"We are, I'm Petunia."

"And I'm Giggles. It's nice to meet you. Are you a freshman this year too?"

"No, this is my second year. I take it you two are already friends?"

"Yep," Giggles began. "This here's my soul mate. I knew she was the one the moment I laid eyes on her the first day of kindergarten."

"So you to are?"

"Soul mates," Petunia answered, "but on the best friend level. We've been through everything together."

"That's so sweet the two of you have been friends for so long. You don't see that very often. So, is there anything I need to know about you two?"

Giggles thought for a moment before replying, "no, not really. I'm pretty easy going. Petunia on the other hand… She's…"

"I'll admit I'm a neat freak," Petunia added.

"I sometimes call her my maid because she's always picking up after me, and she does that to everybody. So don't be offended if you see her cleaning up your mess or vacuuming after you. That's just the way she is." Petunia only nodded along.

"Ah, good to know. I don't think I'm too messy though, so we should be good," Lammy said with a smile.

"Anything we should know about you," asked Petunia.

"Well… I am a little particular about the location of my things, especially my bedspread. I know it's a little childish but I sleep with stuffed animals."

"Me too," responded Giggles.

"Glad I'm not the only one! But there is one that I'm a bit protective about. His name is Mr. Pickles and if he's moved from his spot by anyone but me he may kill you in your sleep," she said seriously.

Giggles and Petunia shared worried looks.

"That was a joke."

They all laughed, but somewhat forcibly at the odd joke.

The girls in the dorm spent many hours getting acquainted with each other, sharing childhood stories, aspirations, and playing card games that Lammy brought out. About three o'clock they decided to call it a night and most decided to go bed.

After preparing for bed Petunia and Giggles exchanged goodnight and laid down to sleep. Instead of sleeping though, Petunia stared blankly at the ceiling. The small party drew her mind off things a bit but now in the quiet her mind can't help but once again dwell over the handyman with the orange eyes. She hoped with time the absolute mortification of that moment would die down. She once again replayed it in her mind but a sound coming over from the other side of the room drew her attention. Petunia turned toward Giggles and listened; she could her friend sniffle softly into her pillow.

"Hey," Petunia called over quietly. "You okay?"

"I'm sorry. I thought you were asleep. I'll try and be more quiet."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it," Giggles responded softly.

Petunia rolled out of bed, went over and knelt beside Giggles bed. "Bull crap. Now what's bothering you?"

"It's stupid."

"I don't care. I don't like seeing you upset so I want to help. Now tell me what's wrong?"

Giggles turned to her friend and Petunia could, even in the dark, make out the tear stricken puffy eyes. "I just," she sighed. "I'm really missing Cuddles right now. And I know it's stupid. _I _broke up with _him. _But… I'm starting to think that was a mistake. I miss him so much and I'm treating him like crap when he's been nothing but wonderful to me."

Petunia pushed some loose pink hair out of Giggles face and looked at her sympathetically. "It's not surprising that you miss him. It's natural. The two of have been together since you were kids."

"I know…" Giggles sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. "I should call him. Maybe if I tell him I made a mistake he'll take me back and we can go back to normal."

"No, sweetie… I don't recommend that."

"Why? You don't want us to get back together?"

"I didn't say that. But, I don't think calling him right now is the best idea. I'm worried that you'd be doing it for the wrong reasons."

"What reason would that be," she questioned.

"That you're upset because you left your comfort zone. You've never been single before and all you know is dating Cuddles. It's perfectly natural that you miss him but calling him in the middle of the night because you're anxious just isn't the best idea."

"What should I do then? What if I can't get over him? I mean, the whole reason I didn't want to talk to him in the first place was because I _knew _I'd end up begging him to take me back."

Petunia took Giggles hand and squeezed softly. "I'm not saying you should never get back with Cuddles. I'm just saying to give yourself a little more time to adjust. If you still feel the same after a week or so, feel free to call and see where you two stand."

Giggles took multiple deep breaths, trying to calm herself. "Okay… I'll try." The two stayed like that for quite a few minutes, Giggles regaining herself and with Petunia offering her silent support. "Petunia?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you sleep with me tonight?"

Petunia sighed. "You're a cover hog."

"Please?"

Petunia sighed deeply. "Oh, alright, scoot."

"Yey," Giggles exclaimed as she moved over enough to let Petunia squeeze in next to her on the bed.

A few weeks passed after that and Giggles never broke and called Cuddles like she was so willing to do the first night. Classes started up in full swing and both girls became wrapped up in schoolwork and activities. During their free time they spent most of it with Cro and Splendid. Cro and Giggles seemed to be growing closer and began to openly flirt more often and while Splendid definitely enjoyed their company he didn't seem to be interested in either girls.

One day the four of them were relaxing in the courtyard underneath a large tree. Cro was strumming songs on his guitar, another thing he excelled at, while Giggles listened intently with a smile plastered on her face. Splendid was in his own world as he surfed some of his media sites and updated his profiles for his fans that followed him online. Petunia was busy going through one of her thick law books, highlighting important topics for a report. Petunia finally called it a session when all the words in her book began to look the same to her.

She closed her book and stretched her back, feeling a few good pops in her lower back. Looking across the courtyard she spotted a familiar person with orange hair and yellow hard-hat, scanning a section of wall where some bricks crumbled away. Petunia inhaled quickly and could feel the heat rise to her face. She turned away and buried her face in her knees.

"Are you okay?" Splendid asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's him."

Splendid looked at the good number of people occupying the courtyard. "Him who?"

"Him," she repeated.

Giggles turned and scanned the courtyard as well and knew whom she was talking about the moment she saw him. "Oh, you mean your Peeping Tom?"

"Shut up!"

"Oh!" Exclaimed Splendid. "Handy the Handless Handyman?"

"Don't call him that," Petunia moaned. "I don't know why but I don't like that nickname." She still regretted telling them what happened. For days afterward they joked about how jealous they were of him and openly fantasized about what they thought her underwear looked like.

"Well, it's true," Cro said as he lowered his guitar. "His name is Handy. He's handless, and he's a handyman. You can't really argue with it."

Petunia found that Handy was actually pretty well known on campus. Mostly because of the mystery of how no one could figure out how he could be so skilled at his job without any hands and that no one has actually seen him ever fix anything but had only seen his results. Petunia glanced in his direction again and sighed.

"Maybe if I confront him I'll stop being so embarrassed by that incident."

"As long as you're prepared to know that whenever he speaks to you he'll be picturing you in your underwear," Cro said.

"What?"

"He's right," Splendid said. "I picture girls in their bra and panties all the time, even without a first hand reference. Trust us: He'll be picturing you in your skivvies."

"Splendid! You pervert!" Giggles yelled as she smacked him on his arms.

"I can't help it! It's involuntary," he defended.

Petunia thought for a moment. "I… still think I should talk to him," she decided as she stood up and began to head in Handy's direction.

"Try to keep your shirt on this time," Splendid yelled after her, earning another smack from Giggles.

Petunia approached Handy, whom was still busy inspecting the wall. She took a deep breath as she willed herself to take the last few steps to close the distance between them. When he didn't notice her she coughed softly to grab his attention. Handy turned his head in her direction and his eyes automatically popped open, a deep blush forming on his face.

'_Yep,' _Petunia thought. _'He's picturing me naked.'_

"Um… Hi, I'm Petunia," she said and offered her hand in greeting before quickly taking it back and hitting herself on her forehead. "I'm so sorry! That was stupid of me!"

"Uh, that's okay. I'm Handy… Nice to meet you?"

"Um… yeah… I'm not sure if you remember me."

"Oh, I remember you."

Petunia felt her face get hot. "Right."

The two stood before each other awkwardly for a few minutes looking at everything but each other.

"Once again, I'm really sorry about what happened. I honestly didn't know anyone was in there."

"I know. I'm not mad at you or anything."

"Oh… Alright then."

"Yeah… I guess… that's all I really wanted to say: No hard feelings."

"That's… good."

The two once again stood in silence.

"Well," Petunia finally said. "I better get back to my friends."

"Okay, bye."

"Uh… bye," she said as she turned and rushed back to her friends that were watching her.

"How'd it go," asked Giggles as she grew closer.

"That was, by far, the most awkward and humiliating conversation I've ever had with someone."

"I liked the part where you tried to shake his hand," Splendid said.

"You saw that?"

"Oh gods yes," he said with an amused smile.

"He probably thinks I'm a complete idiot."

"Oh don't beat yourself over it. He probably gets that a lot," Cro said. "And it's not like you have to talk to him ever again."

"Yeah… I guess you're right."

A couple of days later Petunia and Giggles sat in their early morning English I class while Professor Flippy went on passionately about a particular book he was fond of and the well versed subtle meaning behind the writings. Flaky was also in the class today, even though she took this particular class many semesters ago.

She was working as his aid and was currently grading a batch of essays at his desk. Everybody loved it when she graded his or her papers for him. She typically was a lot more lenient then he was when it came to corrections and critiques. While grading she typically took mini breaks and enjoyed the lecture. Flaky shared that she always loved listening to Professor Flippy when he discussed books.

Halfway through his lecture it all took a turn for the worst. Everyone knew Flippy was a war vet during the last war they had not too long ago and like many had some lingering issues. Most tried to be respectful and avoided certain topics and triggers that could stir some bad memories, but sadly not everyone had quite matured yet and some student thought it would be a bright idea to sneak some blackcats in, light them and toss them forward on the ground.

The moment they went off Professor Flippy dove to the ground and covered his head while most of the students either covered their ears, yelled in surprise or both. A few seconds after the firecrackers finished Flippy realized what happened and jumped to his feet. The change to their typically gentle teacher did a complete turn around as he looked over his class venomously. The class froze, as he looked them over hatefully.

"Who threw this," he yelled angrily. No one answered and all were in shocked silence as they watched him rush forward and pointed at the class. "I said, who the _fuck _threw this?" He slammed his hands loudly on the desk of some poor student who was unfortunately sitting on the front row. The student fell back in his chair in surprise and starred at his teacher in fear. "I want answers!"

"Flippy, please calm down," yelled Flaky from behind him whom was standing apprehensively behind his desk, essays forgotten.

Professor Flippy turned and glared at Flaky who shuffled backwards, frightened, knocking the rollaway chair further back and hitting the wall. He turned back to the class and waved his hand.

"Out! I want everyone out, now," he yelled and turned to go to his desk.

The class quickly gathered their things without a word and began to file out of the classroom. Flippy sat in his chair and rolled it forward, staring at his desk, obviously still seething. Flaky gently touched his arm but he quickly jerked away and buried his face in his hands. Flaky stood by his side and watched him sympathetically and silently while the last of the students left.

Petunia walked arm in arm as they went down the hallway with the rest of the class. They jumped as they felt a pair of arms go around their shoulders and a body forcing itself between them. They relaxed when they saw it was only Splendid.

"What is everyone doing out of class so early," he asked.

"There was… an incident. Someone thought it would be a funny prank to throw firecrackers in the middle of class," Petunia answered.

Splendid inhaled. "That… sucks. What where they thinking?"

"I don't know but I'm so scared right now, I thought he was going to kill all of us," Giggled replied.

"I'm just thankful Flaky was there to calm him down a bit," Petunia added.

"Flaky was there?" He asked, interested. He turned to where the class was located. "She's not still with him is she," he asked, genuinely worried about her.

"I think she is… Wait. You like her," accused Petunia with a wide smile.

"What, me? No," he said blushing.

"Yes you do! I can't believe it took me this long to see it. You always perk up and pay attention whenever she's mentioned and whenever she's around you always try to pull off your cool movie star moves."

Splendid faltered. "Am I that obvious," he asked.

"Not really. You're a natural flirt so I always just passed it up but you so have a crush on her!"

"Aww," Giggles cooed as she wrapped her arms around Splendid in a hug.

"It's frustrating," he said as he returned Giggles hug. "Do you know she's never seen one of my movies? And she's always so quiet. I can hardly get a word out of her but I always find it hard to breath when she's around."

"Aww," both cooed Petunia and Giggles in perfect unison.

"Neither of you are going to say anything about this. The last thing I need is the press finding out I'm having trouble getting a girl to fall for me.

"I think it's cute," Giggles said as she released the hug.

"You know what? My throat's getting dry thinking about this. Since your class is over can we get a drink?"

"Yeah, no problem," Petunia said as she let Splendid wrap his arms around her and Giggles again and escort them to the cafeteria.

Once in the cafeteria they quickly got a few drinks and due to the time of day there were not as many people so they easily found a good seat. The three reminisced about the good old days in their childhood. Splendid was currently entertaining everyone with a few stories of small roles he had in movies and TV sitcoms as a kid and all the other celebrities he grew up around.

Petunia was listening intently until someone across the room caught her attention. Sitting on the other side of the cafeteria she saw Handy awkwardly opening the paper around his straw for his drink. Once he finally got the apparatus free it dropped to the table and Handy then pushed it around in futile with his nubs. A sour expression crossed his face in annoyance as he struggled getting the straw where it needed to go. Petunia couldn't help but smile as she thought the expression was… cute.

"I'll be right back," Petunia said, excusing herself as she left the table and walked to where Handy was sitting. He turned as she approached and she could tell he was questioning why she was coming over.

"Hi again," she said as she picked up the straw and put it in his drink.

"Uh… Hi and thank you."

"No problem. So… How have you been?"

"Fine, just taking an early lunch. How are you?"

"Pretty good- a lot of studying for my law classes. I just saw you sitting here by yourself and was wondering if you wanted to join me and my friends?"

Handy gave her a questioning look before turning to where both Giggles and Splendid were watching them intensely. He looked back at Petunia who was giving him an encouraging smile. Petunia confused Handy greatly and didn't know what to make of her offer. It wasn't that he was shy and anti-social, and he actually liked talking and being around the college students, but considering their first meeting he just couldn't figure out why she was being nice to him like this and not avoiding him like the plague.

"Well," he began as he motioned to his tray. "I would but it's not the easiest for me to mo-" he stopped his sentence the moment his excuse was thwarted by Petunia grabbing his tray and drink.

"I'll get that for you," she then turned and took a few steps toward her table before turning and waiting for Handy.

Handy watched her for a few seconds before smiling and standing. "Well alright then."

After reaching the table Petunia sat down Handy's tray and drink next to where she was sitting.

"Handy, this is Giggles."

"Hello," said Giggles."

"And this is Splendid."

"Hi," Splendid said with a mini salute.

"Nice to meet you guys," Handy said.

"So, I have to know," Splendid said with a wicked smile as he leaned closer to Handy. "Is she as nice as I picture her. You know?" Splendid waved his hands over his chest area. At that comment both Petunia and Handy turned beat red.

"Giggles!" Screamed Petunia and Giggles automatically backhanded Splendid across his shoulder. Splendid pulled back and began to massage his shoulder.

"I really need to stop sitting next to you," he complained.

"You know about that," questioned Handy, embarrassed.

"Oh, gods yes," Splendid answered, arm forgotten. "So…?" Giggles was about to smack him again but Splendid caught her arms and held her at bay.

"Hey!" Exclaimed Giggles, laughing.

"I think I'm not going to respond to that questioned."

"Thank you," Petunia said, glaring at Splendid as he finally worn Giggles down and released her arms. "So Handy, what do you do when you're not keeping this campus from falling on top of us?"

"What do I do? Well… Even at home a do a lot of carpentry type work. I've recently picked up flying and I enjoy that quite a bit."

"Whoa, wait a second," Giggles interrupted. "By flying you mean," she pointed up in the air before finishing her sentence," up in the air in a plane flying?"

"Uh… yeah. Helicopters too."

"You are the coolest handless person I have ever met!" Splendid exclaimed. "How do you do all this stuff. And not just the flying but the carpentry, driving, and all the other crap you do around here?"

"Oh, I'm magic," he said expanding his miniature arms.

"No, but really," Petunia began. "Everyone on campus has only seen you sizing up projects. No one has ever seen you actually work on one, what's your secret?"

"Magic," Handy repeated.

"Oh, come on," Giggles exclaimed. "Tell us."

"There's really not that much to it," Handy shrugged. "When you've been like this most of your life you just learn to adjust the world to best fit you. I don't really like being watched while I work so I typically wait until people are busy with other things or not there at all."

"And how long have you been like that," asked Giggles.

"Giggles," Petunia scolded.

"What?"

Handy laughed. "It's okay. People are naturally curious. To answer your question I had an accident when I was seven when working with my dad's tools without permission and… here we are."

"Geez, you were only seven?" Petunia asked sympathetically.

Handy shrugged. "It took a long time to accept it but once I stopped feeling sorry for myself and started doing things I found that I could still do most things reasonably. Some things still hold me up, of course, and I can get frustrated with things like doorknobs and the like."

"You're really amazing you know that? You've really accomplished a lot," Petunia honestly offered with a smile.

Handy turned to her and returned a sweet smile. "Thanks."

The three of them spent the next couple of hours enjoying each others company and Petunia was happy to see the others take to Handy so well. Eventually Cro and Lammy joined their table as well and all in all it turned out to be of their more enjoyable get-togethers. They all played well of each other's words and felt comfortable enough to poke fun at everyone and receive it back. Eventually everyone had to go their separate ways due to work and classes and so their extended lunch-in was discontinued.

At the end of the day both Giggles and Petunia sat idly on their separate beds. Giggles was entertaining herself by painting her nails a bright yellow while Petunia busied herself reading one of her law textbooks.

"So, Handy was pretty fun to hang out with today, wasn't he," Petunia asked as she lowered her book and looked at her friend.

"Yeah, he's a cool guy," replied Giggles as she blew on her nails.

"I mean everything he does is so amazing. I still don't see how he can do it all."

"Yep."

Petunia laughed, "Maybe he really is magic!"

Giggled cocked an eyebrow and watched her dear friend. "Maybe. What's with this Handy topic?"

"What do you mean? I liked having him with us. He was interesting so I just want to."

"Yeah, but you're never this talkative about our friends. You talked about him on our way to evening classes, over dinner, and you're talking about him again right now."

"So?"

Giggles gave her a lopsided grin. "You like him!"

"What? No I don't," Petunia denied, blushing.

"You do, I can tell! You have a crush on your peeping tom!"

"I do not! I just thought he was interesting. That's it."

"Oh whatever. You have such the weirdest taste in men."

"What, no I don't."

"You totally do."

"Like who?"

"Let's see," she said mockingly as she raised a finger to her cheek. "There's Mime for starters."

"What was wrong with Mime?"

"Well let's start with the fact that he's a mime, shall we."

"Hey, Mime was cute and a good listener."

"That's because he never said anything!"

"So I dated one character in high school. I still had three other perfectly normal boyfriends."

"And how many of those did your parents hook you up with?"

"What? They never 'hooked' me up with anyone."

"They did and you know it," she said pointedly. "The only other boyfriend you had other than Mime that you choose was Toothy and you only dated him because I was dating his best friend!"

"Toothy wasn't so bad."

"But it doesn't change the fact that you only dated him because I was dating Cuddles."

"However you want to look at it I don't see what this has to do with Handy."

"I'm just saying, it's very you to fall for someone with the nickname 'Handy the Handless Handyman.'"

Petunia scoffed, "I haven't fallen for anyone. You know what? Fine, I'll stop talking about him. Sorry for finding someone interesting."

"And cute."

"Will you drop it already!" Petunia yelled as she grabbed the pillow and chunked it across the room at Giggles who was busy laughing at her friend's expense.

Petunia crossed her arms and huffed while she glared at the still very amused Giggles. She then outstretched her arm, "I want my pillow back."

The next day Petunia walked down one of the side hallways and came upon Handy whom was working on putting up drywall on a large hole. He was currently relaying a clear tarp on the ground. Petunia smiled and approached him and Handy looked up from his work and returned her smile as she drew near.

"Hi Petunia, what brings you to this part of the building?"

"Oh, just… roaming around." She wouldn't admit that she remembered that he said he would be working in this area today and purposely took this unnecessary route to 'bump' into him. "What are you doing?"

"One of the pipes running across this wall burst and started flooding. I patched it up and am now fixing the hole I made. The pipes in this place are horrendous. I told the higher ups that they just need to replace the lot of it but apparently that's above their budget. Oh well, more work for me," he said as he turned back to his work.

"Yeah, it wasn't for the rusty pipes we'd never get to see each other," Petunia said jokingly while crossing her arms and rocking on her feet.

She watched as an amused smile crossed his face and he turned to fully face her. "Well, I guess I should be happy the dean didn't take my advice then."

"Guess so," agreed Petunia as she sat down on the floor next to the tarp.

Handy raised an eyebrow at her actions. "What are you doing," he asked suspiciously.

"Me? Oh, I just decided I'll keep you company while you finish up."

Suddenly feeling workshy Handy glanced at the partially finished drywall then back at Petunia whom was watching him, deviously innocent. "Don't you have classes or anything you have to go to?"

"Nope, just finished my last one. My day is officially free. So don't let me stop you. I'd like to see your 'magic'."

"It doesn't work when people are watching me."

"Oh come on. I won't say anything. It'll be like I'm not even here."

"Yeah, but you are here."

Petunia sighed and propped her elbows on her knees. "It didn't bother you a minute ago."

Handy sighed and went to sit in front of Petunia and made eye contact. "You're a persistent one, aren't you?"

"Can be," she admitted.

Handy chuckled at her easy admission while maintaining heavy eye contact. Petunia only smiled and leaned in precariously closer to where their faces were only inches apart. Petunia could feel her heart speed up substantially along with her body heat. In an instant their lips collided into a passionate kiss. Petunia grabbed the sleeves of his tank and pulled herself on his lap to deepen the kiss. Her arms wrapped around his neck and began to rummage through his hair, knocking off his yellow hardhat in the process while Handy massaged her sides with his upper arms while moving his hot kisses down the side of her neck and along her shoulder. Petunia leaned her head back while he continued to plant miscellaneous kisses. She sighed happily as she melted farther into their embrace.

'_Okay, maybe Giggles was right about Handy,' _she thought fleetingly.


End file.
